Despite being institutionalized for schizophrenia at age thirty-one, Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930) achieved artistic greatness in his cell at Waldau Mental Asylum near his native Bern, Switzerland. He has had a profound influence on modern art ever since; André Breton described his work as "one of the three or four most important oeuvres of the twentieth century." The Art of Adolf Wölfli offers a fresh vantage point on the artist's remarkably intricate drawings and astonishing collages, as well as his newly translated writings, which are justly celebrated for their dizzying blend of mythology and humor. Also included are illuminating essays by leading specialists on his art and life.
 Wölfli's youth was one of deprivation. His alcoholic father ran off when Wölfli was five, and his mother died soon after. Despite these travails, he managed to complete his education, acquiring the sophisticated literacy so evident in his later work. However, beginning at age twenty-six, his repeated attempts to molest young girls landed him first in jail and, in 1894, in the asylum. Though violent at first, by 1899 he calmed down--and began to draw.
 Working primarily in pencil on newsprint, Wölfli created a dense, stunningly detailed medley of wildly imaginative prose texts interwoven with poems, musical compositions, color illustrations, and collages. His five-part magnum opus, "St. Adolf-Giant-Creation," comprises 45 large volumes and 16 notebooks--25,000 pages in all--containing 1,620 drawings and 1,640 collages.
 Sure to be the authoritative resource for this remarkable oeuvre, this striking book represents compelling testimony that great torment does not preclude great art.
 EXHIBITION SCHEDULE ?
 American Folk Art Museum, New York February 25 - May 18, 2003
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 Milwaukee Art Museum September 18 - December 12, 2004
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The Art of Adolf Wölfli: St. Adolf-Giant-Creation

Arts & Photography

Baumann, Daniel

Spoerri, Elka

Gomez, Edward M.

Individual Artists

Princeton University Press

This book documents two new bodies of work; a series of large four-part aluminum panel paintings incorporating Oehlen’s recurring motif of trees and a series titled Finger Paintings, in which color-blocked advertisements are an extension of the canvas, providing fragmented, ready-made surfaces for Oehlen’s visceral markings, made with his hands as well as with brushes, rags, and spray cans. Both series were exhibited at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, in summer 2014.

Albert Oehlen: New Paintings

Oehlen, Albert

History & Criticism

Gagosian / Rizzoli

Inflation and String Theory (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)

The past two decades have seen transformative advances in cosmology and string theory. Observations of the cosmic microwave background have revealed strong evidence for inflationary expansion in the very early universe, while new insights about compactifications of string theory have led to a deeper understanding of inflation in a framework that unifies quantum mechanics and general relativity. Written by two of the leading researchers in the field, this complete and accessible volume provides a modern treatment of inflationary cosmology and its connections to string theory and elementary particle theory. After an up-to-date experimental summary, the authors present the foundations of effective field theory, string theory, and string compactifications, setting the stage for a detailed examination of models of inflation in string theory. Three appendices contain background material in geometry and cosmological perturbation theory, making this a self-contained resource for graduate students and researchers in string theory, cosmology, and related fields.

Science & Math

McAllister, Liam

Astronomy & Space Science

Cambridge University Press

Physics

The author – a leading theoretical cosmologist – expands on his widely acclaimed lecture notes in this self-contained textbook, suitable for the advanced undergraduate or starting graduate level. Presenting the key theoretical foundations of cosmology and describing the observations that have turned the subject into a precision science, the author keeps the student in mind on every page by explaining concepts step-by-step, in an approachable manner. After describing the dynamics of the homogeneous universe, the book traces the evolution of small density fluctuations, which were created quantum-mechanically during inflation and are today observed in the cosmic microwave background and the large-scale structure of the universe. The book is ideally suited as a course companion or for self-study. With all necessary background material covered, students have everything they need to establish an unrivalled understanding of the subject. Complete with many worked examples, figures, and homework problems, this textbook is a definitive resource for advanced students in physics, astronomy and applied mathematics.

Cosmology

This 27th issue of OnCurating is dedicated to artistic ephemera with contributions by Daniel Baumann, Michael G. Birchall, AA Bronson, Martin Jäggi, Anne Moeglin-Delcroix, Marianne Mueller, David Senior, and Barbara Preisig, Maja Wismer, Dorothee Richter (eds) Ephemera not only serve to announce an exhibition but they are also the material evidence of a performance, or the work itself in the sense of conceptual art, their classification becomes unclear, and the categories are blurred. So it is not surprising that institutional art collections have tended to avoid exhibiting such materials until recently.  Ephemeral production by artists occurred in the ‘60s and ‘70s—suddenly all formats of exhibition making, of the distribution and production of invitation cards, press releases, inserts, and other forms of artistic (self-)marketing became part of the reorganization of the art field. Ephemera, editions, and invitation cards were seen as specific interesting objects; they did not only offer a space of self-representation, they also made art available to everybody.  From its revolutionary beginnings to its acceptance as a new genre, this kind of work is endangered today. Invitation cards are vanishing; they are being replaced by email, Facebook invitations, Twitter, and other fluid digital news.  The interviews are contributed by Kunsthalle Zürich on the occasion of the exhibition They Printed It! Invitation cards, press releases, inserts and other forms of artistic (self-)marketing.

On-Curating Issue 27: Ephemera: Invitation cards, press releases, inserts and other forms of artistic (self-)marketing

Bronson, AA

MOEGLIN DELCROIX, Anne

Wismer, Maja

Jäggi, Martin

Birchall, Michael G.

Preisig, Barbara

Senior, David

Mueller, Marianne

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Lang / Baumann’s abstract spatial interventions meld architecture with art, urbanism, and installation. More is more? The Swiss architecture office Lang / Baumann is renowned for its bold spatial interventions. They are colorful, striking, and rigorous ―a far cry from the restraint typically shown by their countrymen. Beautifully presented in this monograph, the work of these masters of experimental spatial design is a call for more audacity in using large-scale geometric abstraction and pop art to create compelling temporary installations or to showcase spaces and brands. While their radical embellishment of the streets of Swiss mountain village Vercorin with bright lines garnered them worldwide attention, Lang / Baumann have also done a variety of other work that gives new impulses to our eyes and thoughts. They have, for example, used swaths of color, fingers of light, massive pipes, inflatable elements, or absurd staircase constructions to project plans, designs, analyses, and technical drawings because, well, more is more!

Lang/Baumann: More is More

Biographies & Memoirs

Lang, Sabina

Professionals & Academics

gestalten

Adolf Wölfli is the original outsider artist. Before Darger, Rizzoli and Rodia, there was Wölfli: orphan, laborer, criminal, artist and the subject of a 1921 monograph titled A Psychiatric Patient as Artist, authored by his doctor--the first publication on an outsider artist--which won him the admiration of André Breton and Jean Dubuffet, and gave birth to the outsider phenomenon. “Wölfli’s creations treat the eye to a roller-coaster ride through a terrain bounded by Piranesi, biblical myth, illuminated manuscripts, tantric mandalas and Swiss cuckoo clocks,” New York Times critic Roberta Smith once wrote--“in other words, a dizzying multi-cultural universe.” Adolf Wölfli: Creator of the Universe is the most comprehensive publication on Wölfli ever published. It surveys his entire artistic and literary oeuvre, scrutinizing his intricately detailed drawings and collages and explicating his complex personal mythology. Translated here are texts such as Wölfli’s “Short Biography,” written shortly after his arrival at the Waldau Clinic in Bern, in 1895; his astoundingly bizarre list of inventions; and other prose works, alongside Wölfli’s doctor’s 1921 catalogue essay and other critical examinations. Visual and textual selections are included from the epic From the Cradle to the Grave, in which the artist recounts a fictitiously idyllic childhood; the Geographic and Algebraic Books, which describe his elaborate cosmology; and the St. Adolf Giant Creation, a chant in which Wölfli transposes music into abstract sounds and numbers. Orphaned at the age of ten, Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) was arrested for sexual crimes in his late 20s. Upon his second arrest for such offences, in 1895, he was admitted to the Waldau clinic in his native town of Bern, Switzerland, where he soon began to draw, eventually amassing an oeuvre of thousands of works on paper. After his death, the Adolf Wölfli Foundation was formed to preserve his art.

Adolf Wölfli: Creator of the Universe

Anceau, Manuel

Förster, Eric

Arbor Vitae

In historical research, Stephen Langton is primarily known as a Parisian master of theology. This biography is dedicated to Langton's works as archbishop of Canterbury (1207-1228). His pontificate coincided with a period of political crisis in England, most notably the conflicts leading to the Magna Carta and its aftermath. This study sets out to show how Langton actively helped negotiate the Magna Carta: first, as an intercessor for the English barons and then by acting as a mediator between King John and the rebels. Furthermore, he was significantly involved in restoring the powers of kingship on the basis of the Magna Carta during the years of Henry III's minority after the civil war. Langton's politics paint the picture of an archbishop whose policies were based on principles he had laid out in his theological writings before. Apart from Langton's political role, this study also explores Langton's pastoral and administrative commitments as bishop and baron. Stephen Langton ist der historischen Forschung in erster Linie als Pariser Magister der Theologie bekannt. Die Biographie widmet sich nun seinem Wirken als Erzbischof von Canterbury (1207-1228). Sein Pontifikat fiel in eine krisenhafte Periode der englischen Geschichte, die insbesondere vom Kampf um die Magna Carta gepragt war. Die Studie zeigt anschaulich, wie der Erzbischof Langton zunachst als Fursprecher der englischen Barone, spater als Vermittler zwischen Konig Johann Ohneland und den Rebellen mageblich zur Entstehung der Magna Carta beitrug und wahrend der Minderjahrigkeit Heinrichs III. half, die Konigsherrschaft nach dem Burgerkrieg in den Grenzen der Magna Carta wiederzuerrichten. Seine Politikgestaltung war dabei gepragt von politischen Grundsatzen, die er zuvor als Theologe formuliert hatte. Neben seinem politischen Engagement nimmt die detaillierte Untersuchung auch seine pastoralen und administrativen Verpflichtungen als Bischof und Baron in den Blick.

Stephen Langton: Erzbischof Von Canterbury Im England Der Magna Carta 1207-1228 (Studies in Medieval & Reformation Traditions, 144)

Historical

Brill Academic Pub

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